
Class. 



t^p^nr; 



BooL 



(kpiglitN"__ 



COnfRICHT DEPOSm 



VARIED VERSES 



CARTER S. COLE, M. D. 




NEW YORK 
MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY 



1991 






COPYRIGHT. 1921. BY 
MOFFAT. YARD AND COMPANY 



MAR -4 iS22 



0)CI.A6o4819 



FOREWORD 

Some of these verses were published in a 
limited de luxe edition entitled, ''Lays and 
Lyrics"; and, of these, many have been given 
musical settings. Of those now published for 
the first time, several have already received a 
musical interpretation. 

The German translations were all done for 
the musical settings the poems had received 
in the original tongue. 

The collection now presented may or may 
not be thought worth while by the public ; but 
the verses are the occasional outbursts of the dor- 
mant lyrical impulses in a busy professional 
life: perhaps, they shall find a sympathetic 
appreciation in the hearts of those who have 
been unable to give a metrical expression to 
their feelings : in any case, it is the hope of the 
writer that they may add a joy to the life of 
some one. 

c. s. c. 



CONTENTS 



OCCASIONAL OFFERINGS 



Meditation 11 

Solace 12 

A Snow Scene 13 

Boating 14 

A Word 15 

Now and Then 15 

A Problem 16 

En Passant 16 

Two Voices 17 

Waiting 17 

Where? 18 

Amour sans Amour 18 

Disappointment 19 

Birthday 19 

An African Piano 20 

Human 20 

Shadowland 21 

The Ring 21 

Sundown 22 



Aerial Post 22 

Con Amore 23 

Sans Amour 23 

A Wistful Wind 23 

Unrest 24 

Glass Music 24 

Query 25 

Wireless 25 

Risen! Rejoice 26 

Sweetheart 26 

University of Virginia 

(Centenary) 27-28 

The Path 28 

Dream-Acre 29 

Superlative 30 

Home 30 

Twenty-One 31 

Due Alma Lux 31 

An Ideal 32 



PLACE PAINTINGS 



America 35 

Niagara 36 

Lake Louise 36 

Mirror Lake and Placid.. 37 

A Sea-Gate Sunset 38 

Tidings 39 

Amalfi 40 

Capri 41 



The Colosseum 42 

Belluno 42 

The Catacombs of St. Ce- 

celie 43 

Pompeii 43 

Rigi-Kulm 44 

Sans Souci 45 

Impromptu 46 



C O N T E N r S 



PEN PICTURES 



E. C 49 

W. W 49 

A Boy 49 

A Crystal Wedding 50 

Louise 50 

Hidden 51 

L. G 51 

Jane 51 

Seventy and Seven 52-53 

A Picture 53 

The Titanic 54-55 

E. K 56 

Isadorables 56 

J. C 57 

Sunlight 57 

E. G 58 

A. C 58 

R. B 58 

A Pastor 59 

Calling 59 

In Memoriam 60 

A Voice 60 

The Song Sublime 61 

Content 61 

Love-Bloom 62 

The Harvest Moon 62 

A Kiss 63 

Love's Symphony 63 

Humility 64 

Sea Gulls 65 

Free 65 

Lost and Found 66 

Lost Love 67 



Mother Love 67 

A Mystery 68 

Love Light 68 

Above the Clouds 69 

Unchanged 69 

Dreaming 70 

A Golden Wedding 70 

A Cross 71 

If n 

A Chord 72 

Love's Message 73 

Tear Drops 74 

Affinity 75 

Alone 76 

Bohemians 77 

Far and Near 78 

Roeanne (nine months 

old) 79-80 

Contrast 80 

Heart Hunger 81 

Asleep 82 

Truth 83 

An Inspiration 84 

Silence and Song 84 

Intuition 85 

The Struggle 85 

Mon Desir 86 

Phyllis (sixteen months 

old) 86 

Aloft 87 

A Contralto 87 

A Song Writer 88 

Fortunate 88 



CONTENTS 



FLOWER FANCIES 



A Wild Rose 91 Enthralling 93 

Carnations 91 Violets 93 

Rose-Bloom 92 Pretty Pansy 94 

The Poppy 94 



SPRING SONGS 



A-whispering 97 

Expectancy 97 

A Breath of Spring 98 

The Blue Bird. 



The Soft South Wind.... 98 

The Secret 99 

A Robin 99 

100 



Immanuel 



SONG CYCLES 
.103-104-105 Love Divine 



.105-106 



WORLD WAR WEAVINGS 



The Conflict 109 

An Appeal 110 

The Harvest Ill 

Wood and Iron 112 



Our Flag 112 

Unafraid : 113 

The Tocsin 114 

Chateau Thierry 115-116 



GLADSOME GREETINGS 



Fancy Kind 119 

A Whim 119 

Av^ake! Arise! 120 

A Love Word.... 121 

Old and New 121 



The Day 122 

A Fear 122 

Ring the Bells 123 

Your Bit 124 

Golden Grain , 124 



GERMAN GLEANINGS 



Azure Eyes 127 

Brief Answer 127 

Do'st Recall? 128 

Prophet and Poet 128 

L'ENVOI 142 



After Heine 129-130 

Folksong 130 

The Witch Song (Hexen- 
lied) 131-141 



OCCASIONAL OFFERINGS 



MEDITATION 

CO near the busy throng, 
^ And yet, so still, along 
The river bank we strolled, 
Gazing with grateful eyes 
Westward on purple skies, 
Watching the tints of gold 
And copper on the clouds 
Fading, changing into blue: 
But the idle, curious crowds 
Never looked and never knew 
What was going on above. 
Never guessed the boundless love 
That gave to man the power to see 
Beyond this sphere — Infinity — 
But, soon, the veil of night 
Shut out the clouds from sight. 



[11] 



A SOLACE 

IMPRESSING a kiss 

-*- On the heart of a pink, 

She gave it to me : 

The longer I think 

Of the meaning of this, 

The harder to see 

What the outcome must be ; 

For, surely the flower 

Will never consent 

To part with its prize : 

Nor am I content 

To give up the dower 

That dazzled my eyes : 

The plant itself dies. 

But the kiss ever lives ; 

And the sweet, tender thought 

That the maid had in mind, 

Which my fancy then caught, 

To my heart always gives 

A solace, I find. 

When the Fates are unkind ! 



[12] 



A SNOW SCENE 

Tj^ALUNG the snow: 
■*" Writhing with pain, a woman cries,- 
The minutes seem eternities; 
Greatest of all events on earth 
Impends — another mortal soul — 

How can it know 
The reason why ? — is seeking birth, 
And starting towards the common goal 
That every living thing must find: 
Whirling the years go like the wind — 

Why is this so ? 
Tortuous, long and lone the way 
Those tender feet must tread each day^ 
Unless the spirit spurns the flesh, 
Dreading the cares that life enmesh, 

Eager to go. 
The terrors here, hereafter dark, 
Do not deter the singing lark; 
The joy of love and laughter lend 
Sweetness to life until the end. 

Whether or no ! 



[13] 



BOATING 

ITkRIFTING on the dappled lake, 
Riplets, rhythmic messengers 
Tell the pebbled shore ; our wake 
Furrows where the mirrored light 
Dancing stays, then disappears, 
Filling us with keen delight, 
Floating. 

Dreaming — 
Thinking only joy ahead: 
Never giving one wee thought 
To the morrow — simply led 
By our fancy fickle, free. 
Far afield: the truth is naught — 
Just a passing phantasy 

Seeming. 

Groping — 
Constantly in different ways 
Seeking pleasure, shunning pain. 
Spending priceless nights and days 
In an endless, bootless quest — 
Chasing phantoms — then, again 
Burdened by our own unrest — 

Hoping. 



[14] 



A WORD 

TN reverie, with eye-lids closed, my mind 
■^ Neglectful both of space and time, but 

free 
My hand to trace whatever message sought 
Transmission from the spirit world, I prayed 
For light upon the real joy of life 
As well as on the bliss beyond the grave : 
A silence dreadful followed for the while 
No answer came; but, then, with movement 

swift, 
The fingers wrote one word — and only one — 
In answer to my two bequests ; the page 
Illumined seemed, the mysteries of life 
And death were clear, and peace again upon 
My senses fell — my soul was glad ; the word 
That made all plain, and gave new hopp was 

LOVE. 



NOW AND THEN 

"WTHAT can be said to the mother heart 

" To heighten her joy on earth? 
Whenever she looks at her counterpart 
With luscious, large and laughing eyes. 
The sorrows, trials, pains of birth 
Forgotten quite, she only heeds 
The call of her child, its creature needs. 
And happily pictures a later day 
When love in completeness comes to stay — 
Who dares reckon its worth? 



[15] 



EN PASSANT 

'T'HE hem of her gown brushed my foot 
"*■ as she passed — 

Oh, what a thrill, 
I feel it still, 

My heart-beats tumultous, brain in a whirl, 
My breath short and hurried — and all for a 

girl 
The first time I saw her, perhaps too, the 

last! 

A decade has gone, still I scan each new 

face — 
Hopeless it seems. 
And yet my dreams 
Bring back by day as well as by night 
Thoughts of that girl of whom I caught 

sight 
For a moment, and then lost all trace. 



A PROBLEM 

A PROBLEM difficult, not rare, 
-^^ Obtains, as all agree — to choose 
A wedding gift appropriate 
For one we love. We first must dare 
The money value quite to lose; 
The tender thought should radiate 
From anything we chance to send: 
Untold the worth intent may lend 
The token from a real friend. 



[16] 



TWO VOICES 

TTS plumag:e not full grown, 

■*■ A sparrow chirps, concealed by leaves, 

Persistently an hour or less. 

When straight from out the wilderness 

Another bird, swift flown. 

Appears and soon the cry relieves 

By love and tenderness. 

Alas, how many years 

A human throat cries piteously 

To all the world-indeed, life-long! 

The simple burden of its song. 

So full of scalding tears, 

To reach the heart in sympathy 

To which it must belong ! 



WAITING 

A TINY bird, whose pulsing throat 
■^^ Can scarce expel the trumpet note 
Of joy that greets the dawn. 
Will carrol forth to land and skies 
The beauty of the early morn 
That human art and speech defies: 
Its language simple, sweet and plain 
To all, save man, somewhere 
Will thrill the feathered throng; again 
Its message trilled, on air 
Is borne to one who waits until 
The melody may reach and fill 
Its heart, and banish care. 

[171 



WHERE? 

W/^HERE is the land of most delight? 
^ We know the limitations here — 
That alternating day and night 
Compel a change we often fear: 
The joy of love, so fleeting, wakes 
Another hope that almost makes 
Conviction strong that we shall find 
In time, the place that knows no change, 
Where human hearts are always kind, 
And fancy has its fullest range; 
Where nothing may the spirit bind 
That seeks its freedom: Am I right 
To say it is the Infinite? 



AMOUR SANS AMOUR 

A SOUL by silence shriven long, 
■^^ A heart denied its sweetest song, 
Would live and throb if touched by light 
Unseen for years: for darkest night 
Replies with anguish, grief, despair 
In answer to the daily prayer. 

And shall we mortals never find 
True happiness and peace of mind? 
Or, shall we struggle aimlessly 
Against the highest Heaven's degree, 
And rob ourselves of bliss below, 
Not knowing when, nor whence we go? 



[181 



BIRTHDAY 

THHERE are days to recall 
•*- And days to forget: 
But the one best of all 
Was not when we met — 
For that was ordained — 
But when you were born! 
The month and the morn 
Are quite simply explained — 
A fortuitous chance, 
If they serve to enhance 
The natural charm 
That was yours from the start: 
You need feel no alarm 
About age: till you part 
With your candor and truth. 
You shall always have youth. 



DISAPPOINTMENT 

T SAW a quill of gold on high 
■*• Outlined upon an opal sky 
Just as the sun was going down 
Resplendent in its nimbus crown. 

In vain I sought to grasp the pen 
And learn the message it could give; 
But while I stood and looked again, 
The cloud dissolved: untaught, I live. 

[19] 



AN AFRICAN PIANO 

A FRICA my mother, 
-^^ Jungle-bred and wild, 
Never had another 
Music making child: 
Pine boards bound together, 
With a wedge between, 
Strips of steel the tether. 
Solid, curved, and lean. 
From my face, endearing, 
Stranger than this tale. 
Melodies you're hearing. 
In a new-born scale. 



HUMAN 

"pkESPISED, outcast, 
"*^ A loathsome creature in the sight 
Of what we choose to call society 
Her heart is just as human: right 
Appeals, and not alone propriety: 
Necessity compels, but with her choice, 
Convenience disappears — the voice 
Of love commands ; and when her tears 
Repentent reach the Mercy seat, 
And falling bathe the Saviour's feet, 
I cannot think, in spirit years, 
That she shall find her future lot 
Must be with those who are forgot, 
Despised, outcast. 

[20] 



SHADOW LAND 

Tr7"EARY of work, too tired to play, 
" Watching the evening shadows creep 
Silently, while the light of day 
Faded, and darkness encouraged sleep. 
Fanciful forms invaded my mind. 
Phantoms weird of many a kind 
Beckoned and nodded with easy grace. 
Ceaselessly calling the worn out heart 
Back to the shadow-land, restful place 
Whither they went, no more to depart. 



THE RING 

/~\NCE there was a maiden fair, 

^-^ Gracious, charming, debonair. 

Always by tradition taught 

Love, like vestments, could be bought; 

That affection, faith, respect. 

Wealth compelled; that fools expect 

Sentiment: and need I tell 

That she learned her lesson well? 

Twenty years elapsed, and then. 
Gazing on her face again. 
Wife and mother, wealth I saw; 
But apparent was some flaw 
In her happiness — the ring 
Had not meant the real thing: 
Love neglected gnawed her heart. 
While she tried to play the part. 



[21] 



SUNDOWN 

T KISSED her as the sun went down 

"■- Behind the mountains in the West: 

A stillness settled on the land; 

The afterglow of gold and brown 

Illumined every sheltered nest, 

Before the night could lay its hand 

Of darkness over all: her eyes, 

With sapphire tinged, enthralled my heart; 

The simple, sacred silence said 

This vital thought: The daylight dies, 

But love alone, the better part 

Of life, survives when we are dead. 



AERIAL POST 

A BOVE the earth, on high, 
•^^ The wings of man, by air 
Supported in the sky, 
With reckless haste will dare 
To speed these lines : must not 
A happy, future lot 
And path to wealth and fame 
As unimpeded wait 
The earnest artist? Fate 
Cannot ignore the name 
To which the Gods are kind 
And send a favoring wind! 



[22] 



SANS AMOUR 

A LWAYS deprived of one who knows 
•^^ How, in the hour of need and grief- 
Frequent, alas! but rare the relief — 
Comfort and peace to find and give. 
When the desire to die — not live — 
Stronger and strangely grows 
Irresistible — such is the lot 
Waiting for one who knows love not. 

CON AMORE 

PVERY joy of life to find, 
^^ Sharing with one who understands 
What the innermost heart demands, 
Reaping a harvest of pleasure here. 
Poisoned by neither regret nor fear, 
Full of affection for all mankind — 
Such is the natural, normal state 
When we have found love, soon or late. 



A WISTFUL WIND 

■jiyfY spirit sought a kindred soul to find, 
^^^ And on the circumambient ether rode 
A furious race, and reached the far abode 
Of one who understood: a wistful wind. 
Laden with scent of lotus bloom. 
Kissed two long-lashed lids, and then, 
Whispered my secret in sweet perfume. 
But never returned to me again. 

[23] 



UNREST 

"WrHAT means this spirit of unrest 
^ That frets my soul, unwelcome guest? 
The joys of life that others know, 
To me are but a picture show; 
The music of the master minds 
Within my heart a welcome finds, 
But fails to bring the long sought calm 
That never knows the slightest qualm: 
My friends are kind, and, yet, I feel 
A wound that kindness may not heal, 
A longing for another heart 
That must have been of mine a part: 
Perhaps, we only find above 
That perfect peace — a perfect love. 



GLASS MUSIC 

TJE sang from the empty glasses to me, 
■'--'• Touching their rims with his finger 

tips. 
And brought into life such a harmony 
As never could come from the quivering 
lips. 

Was it the music from nature's shrine. 
Stored in the sand for a furnace blaze 
To change to a vibrant chord divine 
When the hand of the loving master plays? 

[24] 



QUERY 

TI77HAT is the meaning of valentine? 
^ Once in a year there comes the day 
Allotted to those who are moved to say 
The thing that lies nearest their hearts; 
And so I am tempted, before it departs, 
To tell you what lingers in mine : 
That, despite the fact we have often met. 
The word I would utter and may not forget, 
Refuses to come when I try to speak : 
My courage falters, my heart grows weak — 
But the truth is revealed in this line! 



WIRELESS 

PAIR-HAIRED faery, 

■■- Fickle, wary. 

Caught and calmed by needful sleep. 

Are your fancies 

Born of glances 

From a mother's vigil deep. 

Restless, tireless, 

Human wireless. 

When awake, a joy untold. 

Dreams refreshing, 

Love enmeshing. 

Tenderly your heart enfold! 



[25] 



SWEETHEART 

OWEETHEART— of all— the word su- 
^ preme ! 

Each time I hear it when I dream 
The face of one alone appears: 
Throbbing my temples, hot the tears 
That blurred my sight these many years 
That failed to make my dreams come true 
And give the love my fancy knew. 

Over the boundary line between 
This life and that in worlds unseen, 
They may not speak nor see nor hear — 
Still in my heart one thing seems clear. 
That if by chance your soul be near, 
Some other sense will rend the mist 
That filched from love on earth its tryst. 



RISEN! REJOICE! 

T HEAR a distant voice 
-^ Of prophecy that says, 
*Teace, prosperity always!" 
At last the shackles fall 
And free the soul: the pall 
Of silence yields, the strain 
Of songs inspired, again. 
Delights the listening ear. 
And many a grateful tear 
Fallen: Rejoice! 



[26] 



UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA {Centenary) 

A CENTURY — a puissant span — 
■^^ Has proved the wisdom of the man 
Whose brain conceived the trenchant 

thought 
To give untrammeled knowledge brought 
From every source to eager youth: 
That naught might dim eternal truth, 
Unprejudiced each heart to see 
The creed that spelled eternity: 
It was not deemed a hopeless plight 
To want revealed religious sight: 
The soul of every one was free 
To fashion its own Deity, 
To sound the depths or search the skies 
For forms Infinity supplies — 
Innumerable, weird and strange. 
But never subject to the change 
That is the fate of human kind. 
The product of the mortal mind. 
Transcendant was the precious star 
That shone for all both near and far 
Called Honour: never corner stone 
On which to build a regal throne 
More wisely chosen. Tell we must 
How faith was justified: the trust 
Was not misplaced; and from these walls 
The spirit honest met the calls 
Of duty unafraid these years 
Gone by: the future holds no fears: 



[27] 



Our Alma Mater is the light 

That never fails: that guides aright 

The heart and brain: her colonades, 

With memories of ten decades, 

Her sons and daughters shall inspire 

To seek and find celestial fire: 

Her field the world! Hold up her hands 

To guide the youth of many lands! 



THE PATH 

T TPON the path by roses lined 

^ In fancy tread my willing feet: 

The breeze through branches intertwined 

Continually makes music sweet; 

And fire-flies fitfully at night 

Emit their tiny, transient flare — 

A challenge to the twinkling light 

Of orbs celestial : the care 

That harries hearts and hurries age 

To sound its note can find no tongue: 

Instead, the birds in nature's cage. 

Before the dawn, the trees among. 

Are carolling their peerless lays 

To rouse the world from sleep and bring 

The joy they know and feel always 

To every sentient, mortal thing; 

And peace perpetual pervades 

The rose-lined path with perfumed shades. 

[28] 



DREAM-ACRE 

npHE years were long, 
"*- The road was hard, 
But neither made me doubt my Maker; 
And now with song 
A nature bard 
Salutes the morn in my dream-acre. 

The river clear 

In full view lies 

While on its surface dance the sun-beams: 

The blue jay near 

With clarion cries 

Diverts the channels of my day-dreams. 

The beechwood trees 

Majestic stand 

Around my home above the valley: 

With melodies 

Untutored, grand 

Their branches throb continually. 

My wishes now 

Are few — that long 

The years may last: that not a breaker 

May fate allow 

To mar the song 

Of birds that nest in my dream-acre. 



[29] 



HOME 

TVTHEN are you coming home cherie 
^ The place where your heart is at peace? 
Already it seems an eternity 
Since longings and yearnings should cease: 
On every mile of the road for years 
The guide-post that pointed the way 
Displayed the same message: "A love that 

endears 
Awaits your home-coming to-day." 
What has life to offset its numerous woes, 
Its worries, burdens and pains. 
Unless it be Love — which every one knows 
Is the Heaven on earth God ordains. 



SUPERLATIVE 

T^THEN a heart by error tried 

" Has a feeling desolate. 
Knowing from the voice inside 
That on love and not on fate 
Hangs the happiness of life — 
Still it may by faith assured 
Learn that from the storms and strife, 
Constantly by all endured. 
Comes the bliss superlative 
When the kindred soul is found. 
Making us forget the wound : 
Then forever we would live. 



[30] 



TWENTY-ONE 

rpWENTY-ONE, 
•*• Life begun; 
Play diminished: 
College finished, 

Still, the world is full of pleasure, 
Heightened now and then by sorrow: 
In the mind is found the measure 
Making welcome each to-morrow: 
In the heart the richest treasure 
Of this life is safely guarded 
By a perfect intuition; 
Heed its warning, be rewarded 
By the joys of love's fruition: 

Wisdom slowly 

Comes, but surely 

Smiles upon 

Twenty-one. 



DUC ALMA LUX 

THHAT when the cross I see 
•■- I know that faith for me 
Has made life sweet: 

That on my earthly way 
Thy never failing ray 
Must guide my feet: 

That with these mortal eyes 
My view of Paradise 
May be complete — 
Due alma lux! 



[31] 



AN IDEAL 

^Y^OU have heard from the strings 
-*■ Of a fine violin many wonderful things ; 
But they cannot begin to compare with the 

voice 
Of the one whom you love, 
When she says that your choice 
Has brought peace, like the dove. 

Though an artist may paint 

With remarkable grace and the charms of a 

saint. 
Without having a trace of the human 

remain ; 
Still, the composite whole 
Of the thought in his brain 
Must be limned by the soul. 

All the beauties of art 

And the wonders of God, to a soulless heart 

Are no more than the sod; but the mind, 

keen and bright 
With divine inspiration. 
Knows the wonderful sight 
In the simplest creation. 



[32] 



PLACE PAINTINGS 



AMERICA 

T AND of the West, 
"■^ Hope of the free- 
America ! 
All that is best, 
God gaveth thee. 

Refuge to all, 
Bound by no creed, 

America ! 
You heed the call 
Where there is need. 

Mountains and plains, 
Ore-filled and fair, 

America ! 
Sunshine and rains. 
Riches to spare. 

Varied the soil. 
Bracing the air, 

America! 
Happy the toil, 
Peace everywhere. 

Time lays its hand 
Gently on thee, 

America! 
Favored the land. 
Home of the free! 



[35] 



NIAGARA 
TVrO simple words of man may tell 
■^^ The wonder seen, then known so well. 
The roar majestic, rich and deep 
That thrills, awake, or lulls, asleep; 
The fleecy, floating, cooling mist 
By rain-bows daily, nightly kissed; 
The waters turbulent below 
With froth and foam and undertow — 
A swirling, seething, whirling force 
Forever on its hurried course ; 
The chasm riven from solid stone 
While many centuries have flown: 
The Infinite has lain its hand 
Upon the waters and the land! 

LAKE LOUISE 
nnO paradise in regions wild 
•*■ The North provides an open gate: 
Towards the South, a real thrill 
Enchants the heart — the glaciers great, 
With snow incalculable piled 
Upon a mountain higher still: 
A turquoise blue and green the lake: 
On either side, a mountain lifts 
Enormous stones to zero heights. 
On which to hoard the mighty drifts 
Perpetual and pure that make 
The rills of ribbon-white upon 
Their unsealed sides: the shifting lights 
Will soon reveal, the search begun. 
Fantastic colors — precious gifts — 
And flowers abundant, plants and trees 
Enhance the charms of Lake Louise. 

[36] 



MIRROR LAKE AND PLACID 

TpNCIRCI^ED by a purple chain 

^-^ Of monuments eternal, lies 

The lake, a mirror, cool and still. 

That sees each cloud and from each hill 

Reflects the pines till daylight dies: 

The wood-thrush, even in the rain. 

Will whistle early in the morn; 

The wood-peewee, with sad cadence, 

From bough or bush or rustic fence. 

At noon directs the errant birds 

To seek their mates and find their nests, 

In language just as plain as words; 

The robins strut and search the lawn 

For worms and bugs, their russet breasts 

Expanding with the frequent note 

Emitted by a pulsing throat. 

Contiguous is Placid Lake, 

In which the mountains bathe their feet; 

And when the snow-white clouds, so fleet, 

Have kissed and clung to tops and sides. 

And with reluctance rise to slake 

The thirst of loftier spots, abides 

The dew upon the Sentinels 

That bar it from a timid guest: 

But if the world one can forsake. 

The virgin forest sings and tells 

Of peace and beauty, joy and rest. 



[37] 



A SEA-GATE SUNSET 

"DEHIND the harbor hills and far beyond, 
•*-^ The setting sun, with varied hues, had 

kissed 
The willing clouds, and in the wondrous 

West, 
A purple haze enmeshed with filmy veil 
The tortuous shore and highlands overhung: 
The bay unruffled, save some spots a breeze 
Its cooling breath had spent, while overhead, 
With tendrils crescent reaching out, a new 
Mysterious moon, its silver light so soft. 
Had almost grasped the pendant Venus near 
To use it for her diadem, when night 
Enveloped all, and myriad stars appeared 
To gem the sky: the silver changed to gold. 
And swiftly raced the evening star ahead 
To shed its diamond rays upon a world 
Unknown: Selene followed soon, and stars 
Were left to pale before the Master-light. 



[38] 



TIDINGS 

T SAW a charming cottage near the sea, 
"■■ A spot for perfect peace and joy to reign: 
The world was scarce a faded memory, 
So far removed its worries, cares and pain. 

A cactus, palm, or any southern flower, 
A welcome finds and unrestricted grows: 
The vines entwining make a shady bower 
To whisper love before the daylight goes. 

Around are hills with brush and verdant 

trees. 
Relieved by streaks of white and yellow 

sand. 
And through the Golden Gate a cooling 

breeze 
Brings tidings from a far-off foreign land. 



[39] 



AMALFI 

A MALFI beckons me, I feel 
^^ The balmy air, the mystic spell 
Of peace upon my senses steal — 
The peace the monks had learned so well; 
Their home upon the mountain side 
Of solid stone, so strongly wrought. 
Remains : the colonade, its pride. 
With fruitful vines, is quickly sought, 
Although from every point is seen 
The lavish hand of nature when 
It gave such vegetation green 
And cloisters quaint to godly men: 
Above, the mountains and the sky; 
Below, the water, purple, bright. 
Upon whose riplets constantly 
The playful sunbeams sparkle light 
Like myriad, priceless gems: at night, 
The moon a silver wake provides; 
And undisturbed the shore by tides, 
A welcome tends and seems to say, 
"The quest is over: rest, and pray!'' 



[40] 



CAPRI 

A BEAUTIFUL island that all may see 
■^^ Stands guard near the main-land in far 

Italy ; 
It is rugged and small, but prolific and fair, 
And its people rejoice in their freedom from 
care. 

The waters of purple delight from its shore 
To borrow some tokens, but covet still more 
Of its soil, and have burrowed one side 
For a grotto, all blue, to be seen at low tide. 

Sorrento is seen as we look on the coast; 
And standing alone, like a ghoul or a ghost. 
With a tongue touched by flame from its 

uplifted head, 
Vesuvius watches its multitude — dead! 

Between lies that wonderful changing sea. 
So rich in its tints, then again so free 
From all purple and green — just a large 

sheet of glass, 
A quiet, transparent and colorless mass. 

A daily delightful event for the eye 
Is the sun as it sets in the Western sky. 
With a prodigal waste of its silver and gold, 
Producing a picture of beauty untold. 

Need I tell you the name of this marvelous 

isle 
So diminutive — great notwithstanding? A 

smile 
Is your answer: the truth, then, must be 
You know it — yes, love it — the isle of Capri. 

[41] 



THE COLOSSEUM 

npHE night was clear: 
■*- The moon with borrowed light 
Looked down upon the ruins grand 
Where oft before, two thousand years 
And more, from every heathen land. 
The gladiators trained to fight. 
Had crossed their fatal spears; 
Where Christians tortured, turned 
A welcome ear 

To beasts more kind than men — 
Wild beasts whose roaring advent brought 
Relief for which their victims yearned 
So long, and vainly sought — 
The perfect peace eternal when. 
Unchained, unmoved by tears. 
The Spirit makes its flight 
Beyond this sphere. 

BELLUNO 

TJIGH in the clouds, 

■■--'■ But higher still the jagged cliffs 

That circle — some with snow-capped peaks — 

Belluno, ancient, Alpine town: 

Fretted the shrouds 

Of ragged turrets making rifts 

For air so pure and light that speaks 

A message heavenly coming down. 

Your fortress builded by a hand 

Supreme, forever shall defy 

Assaults of every kind: the land 

Is blessed that almost joins the sky. 

142 1 



CATACOMBS OF SAINT CECELIE 

A TINY taper lights the way 
■^^ To tortuous paths beneath the sod, 
Where christians in an evil day 
Could supplicate their unseen God. 

Within this city, underground, 
Concealed a thousand years, remains 
Of martyrs young and old were found, 
Forever freed from mortal pains. 

Their patron saint, the story goes, 
Was buried here four hundred years 
Unchanged: and since, the whole world 

knows 
Her name protects these tombs of tears. 



POMPEII 

OILENT city of the dead, 
^ Lost for centuries, then found, 
Why was your defenseless head 
Chosen for a funeral mound? 
Whither did your people flee? 
Were they buried by the dust ? 
Did they rush into the sea 
Seeking shelter where they must? 
Why were some by lava chained, 
Seemingly to danger dum.b? 
These alone have still remained, 
Calcified for years to come. 

[43] 



RIGI-KULM 

T^HE sun above, the sea below — 
"*• A sea of fog, like driven snow. 
Enveloping the lakes and hills 
And lower peaks against their wills: 
As far as eye can see around 
The Alps majestic, some snow-bound, 
And glaciers, too, the sun defy. 
But warm the earth on which they lie 
And keep secure their rugged tops 
From life or any kind of crops. 
Except the ones they hold and hide 
Beneath their massive weight. The tide 
Of time and cares of men below, 
Cannot disturb nor change the glow 
Of sunrise and of sunset grand. 
In this enchanted, lofty land: 
The rainbow colors kiss good-night 
Each snow-bound crest, and with the light 
At early morn, rejoice to stay 
A moment; then, compelled, they stray 
To pastures green and haunts of men, 
But know they can return again 
To peace and quiet, where the blue 
Of Heaven's vault shall veil anew 
The craigs and peaks so high in air. 
Committed to the Master's care. 



[44] 



SANS SOUCI 

nnWO lions done in marble white 
■*■ Command the terrace day and night 
On which a palace, silent, stands: 
Magnolia blossoms fill the air 
With odors luscious everywhere; 
Abundant, trained by many hands. 
The flowers; fountains small and great, 
And virgin trees, the gift of God, 
Whose fulsome tops with music nod 
To every breeze, insatiate: 
A pheasant frivols fearlessly. 
And many a bird delights to bring 
Its chosen mate and breed and sing 
In this entrancing Arcady. 
The quiet waters in the lakes 
Invite the snowy plumaged birds 
To stay their flight: and wakes 
The day to hear the lillies words, 
And hum of happy, busy bees 
That rifle blooms of plants and trees 
To satisfy a short-lived queen 
In Sans Souci, forever green. 



[45] 



IMPROMPTU 

T MAY not guess your native state, 

■*■ Nor whence you wandered to this clime, 

But this I know, some special fate 

Together brings us at this time. 

I cannot classify your voice 

As from the East, or North, or West; 

And though I dare not tell my choice, 

It finds an echo in my breast. 

My heart would place it in the South, 

Despite the accident of birth, 

Because one word, from such a mouth. 

Can make a Heaven of this earth. 



[46] 



PEN PICTURES 



E. C. 

TTIS voice sublime 

Will swell the choir celestial where 
The angels happy hasten him 
On pinions poised, surpassing fair : 
And while, their eyes with weeping dim, 
The countless thousands here bemoan 
Their loss, they feel that they have heard 
The one supreme in song and known 
The heart to peoples all endeared 
For endless time. 

W. W. 

TJE was opposed to war — 

■'"-*' Why not? — and, yet, the call 

Of liberty afar 

He heard, and with a wall 

Of human force the sway 

Of kings destroyed — and then 
Disclosed the cryptic way 
That lead to peace again. 

A BOY! 
A BOY! 

■^^ To live with him a second life, 
And watch his growth in coming years, 
To shield him from the storm and strife 
That causes mortals many tears : 
A vista long of happiness 
Your love and tenderness must bless. 
What joy! 

[49] 



A CRYSTAL WEDDING 

"C'IFTEEN years, no less, no more: 
-*- Happy? — Surely, else the score 
Would have been long since erased 
And another made in haste. 

Crystal is a fitting term, 
Suited to conditions firm, 
Crystalized by hopes and fears 
Shared by two, so many years. 

May your golden wedding find 
Both in health and of one mind; 
Then the life upon this earth 
Makes you seek a second birth. 



LOUISE 

"I7"EEN for the strife, 
•^-^ Full of the joy of doing. 
Ready for work or wooing. 
Hearing the best, and singing 
Melodies, haunting clinging. 
Pulsing with life. 

Surely this earth 
Gives you its richest treasure. 
Health, and in fullest measure: 
Yours is the obligation: 
What is your aspiration? 

What is it worth? 



[50] 



L. G. 

WHTH fingers frail he stroked his beard; 
" And from his spacious chest was heard 
A voice of beauty, depth and power 
As iridescent as a flower. 
That seemed to loose a secret well 
Of pleasure hidden in my heart: 
But who may dare or hope to tell 
The wonder of consummate art? 

HIDDEN 

A DAUGHTER nine days old! 
-^^ The mother truly wise 
To keep the great surprise 
Securely hidden in her heart, 
And dance until the morning light 
As easily as any sprite 
Untrammeled by domestic art; 
But truth a-laughing lies 
Upon her breast with eyes 
Of blue and hair of gold! 

JANE 

T^ELL me maid with violet eyes 
•*■ Why my soul knows such unrest: 
Does emotion or surprise 
Cause this choking in my breast? 

Do you know your subtle charm? 
Let me warn you: have a care 
Lest the heart may suffer harm 
When it hides your image there! 

[51] 



SEVENTY AND SEVEN 

rpOOTHLESS the two, 
■*" And scanty their hair: 
The one, a silver grey. 
The other, in its way. 
Almost a gold; the pair. 
Dove-like, would coo 
And kiss, heedless 
Of the gaping crowd. 
Laughing aloud 
Happily, needless. 
Seventy years and more 
With blighting touch 
On one: the other much 
Younger than a year. 
Clinging to the door 
Of life with many a tear. 
And sometimes with a smile. 
For one, so much ahead. 
The other, waiting while 
The certain call would wed 
The Future and the Past — 
So much for her behind. 
And yet, so little when 
Compared to life again. 
Forever said to last, 
Although no finite mind 
Foresees the hour. It seems 
The veil is always drawn. 
We may not know the morn 
Here or hereafter. Dreams 
Trouble us asleep — awake, 



[52] 



They still perplex, because 
Our disappointments take 
Away ambition; then we pause, 
Dreading to dream again, 
Knowing the joy — the pain! 



A PICTURE 

A PICTURE daily looks at me— 
■^^ Indeed, its gaze attracts and halts 
Whoever comes within its range: 
A message in the face I see, 
A fancy musical and free, 
Enkindling in my brain a strange 
Commotion, while its charm assaults 
The fortress of my heart, so long 
Impregnable — till now, so strong. 
Can others read the wonders there. 
The wistful eyes, the soft grey hair. 
The peace that surely finds a place 
In such a calm and trusting face; 
The thoughts that come from fairyland 
And give a joy before unknown. 
The melodies so richly sown 
With harmonies by magic hand? 
At least, in future years, the day 
Can come when every little child 
May hear and learn those motifs new; 
And then, perhaps, some one shall say, 
The poet in his simple way 
Has reached the multitude through you 
With themes that cannot be defiled. 



[53] 



THE TITANIC 

"pRIDE of her builders, queen of the seas, 
-*■ Flaunting her pennants to every breeze, 
Swift as a gull in its over-sea flight, 
Sailed the Titanic, supreme in her nlight. 

Deep in her hold were the priceless stores 
Destined for traffic on distant shores; 
High on her decks were the staterooms 

grand. 
Filled with the flower of many a land. 

Luxury such as had never been seen. 
Furnishings rich in gold and green: 
Dining and dancing the pastimes at night, 
Full in the glare of the dynamos light. 

Feeling secure on this mammoth, the sleep 
Seemed to refresh as she sped o'er the deep ; 
Early the air was instilled with sea-brine. 
Bringing new life and a message divine. 

Lashing the waves as they lapped at her 

prow, 
Bridging the troughs of the sea, stern and 

bow. 
Haughtily tossing the spray high in air. 
Saucily speeding, with never a care, 
'^Mistress," she said, '*of the waters am I: 
Never before has the land or the sky 
Known such control as I hold of the sea — 
Strong and unsinkable — marvel at ME!'' 

[54J 



Calm was the night when the sea made 

reply : 
Dusky, an object that towered on high 
Quietly rode on the breast of the waves, 
Bringing for heroes their shrouds and their 

graves. 

Scarce had the watch in the crow's-nest 

lashed 
Shouted, "An iceberg ahead!" when it 

crashed 
Full against the starboard side, 
Tearing steel-plates far and wide. 
Forcing water fast and cold 
On the engines in the hold. 
Quenching fires and drenching men 
Trapped like wild-beasts in a den. 
From the mizzenmast on high. 
Wireless word of help near-by, 
Reassured and promised aid — 
Why should any be afraid? 

Starboard and forward, a list and a dip 
Told of the danger that threatened the ship : 
Lifeboats were ordered^ — the jesters were 

stilled — 
All with a feeling of horror were filled. 

Hearts that are bleeding in grief and 

despair, 
Know that the nations of earth everywhere 
Honor these men and with pride read the 

roll — 
Greater no love than when death is its toll! 

[55] 



ISADORABLES 

GLIDING with rhythmical movements, 
free 
As the birds when they froUc in air, 
Dancing and racing so merrily — 
Strangers to sorrow, they have no care — 
Waving like grasses swept by the wind. 
With little to hinder and nothing to bind, 
Surely their motion is poetry! 

Even entrancing at rest, to the eye. 
Because of the art in their pose: 
Gracefully tilting their palms on high. 
Balanced with ease on their naked toes. 
Instantly grasping some subtle sign 
From their priestess to alter a curve or a 

line — 
When will she teach them to fly? 



E. K. 

pOD-GIVEN the power 

^^ To draw the bow! 

A tender flower 

May never know 

The joy it gives: 

An artist lives. 

Not only once, but when 

The memory again 

Recalls the art: know then 

The debt you owe 

To such a dower. 

[56] 



SUNLIGHT 

A RAY of sun upon the face 
•^^ Had almost made the picture speak: 
And as I pondered on the grace 
And charm of her I knew so well, 
On whom the busy sunbeam fell, 
I could not chide the ray of light 
For being spell-bound by the sight, 
And nestling closer to her cheek. 

Oh! favored sunlight, happy one 

To daily visit all mankind. 

And often, ere your task is done. 

With warmth and love some heart caress 

That grieves or lives in bitterness — 

It, surely, cannot be amiss 

To pause and press one fleeting kiss 

Upon the fairest face you find! 



J. C. 

T HEARD a voice from a faraway land 
■^ That welled with the love of the song : 
I feared lest the world might not under- 
stand. 
So I sought the singer, to grasp her hand. 
And tell her I knew; that so long 
Would those tones be golden, and deathless 

the art. 
As they sprang from the depths of the 

human heart. 

[57] 



A, O. 

TYTITH lavish hand the Deity 
^^ Expended many gifts on thee: 
But do you know that in your voice 
That hurries every heart that hears 
And makes the soul though sad rejoice 
There lies down deep a font of tears? 
Its echoes ringing cannot find 
The words to tell them — but the wind 
Will blend them with the nature notes 
That spring from many feathered throats: 
Long, cherish, guard this priceless thing 
And comfort hearts awearying! 

E. G. 
Tj^OR many years his blighted eyes 
■*- Have tried in vain to see sunrise; 
But through his ears, 
Responsive to his fingers slim, 
With joy and tears, 
His violin has brought to him 
The colours all from nature, pure: 
Could sight itself have given more? 

R. B. 
TTTELL of joy, of hope the spring, 
" Even truth may give a sting: 
Sweet its message, clear, unsought — 
Bitter when by sorrow brought: 
Cupid is a jealous faery: 
Never mortal wise or wary 
Spurned the law that he ordains: 
Love is King! Supreme he reigns! 

[58] 



A PASTOR 

'T^O measure life by years, not deeds, 
-*■ Is usual with those that err; 
But one who finds and fills the needs 
Of aching hearts and poor lost souls. 
And brings them to the sheltering folds 
Where human ties are sweet and dear, 
And hope eternal gives anew 
The strength to struggle and to fight. 
The courage needed to be true, — 
Must realize that on this earth 
His years are measured by his worth. 
Which God alone may judge aright: 
No wonder then, fond brother mine. 
That fifty Winters— dare I tell?— 
Have passed and hardly left a line 
Upon your brow; and that your hair. 
Though touched by grey, bespeaks no care, 
Because your people love you well! 

CALLING 

A RE you calling me ? 
■^^ Can I mistake the voice I hear. 
Far-off at times, then again so near. 
Chanting a melody soft and low, 
Only permitted to lovers to know. 
Giving ecstasy? 

I am calling you: 

Although no sound from my lips is heard, 
Out into space hurries each fond word. 
Driven by energy stored in my heart. 
Straight to the soul of its own counterpart. 
Faithful, loving, true. 

[59] 



IN MEMORIAM 

(F. 5. Ober) 

PAITHFUL, thoughtful to the end— 

-"- Death's messenger had called 

Long since, and spirit forms 

Were waiting anxiously 

To greet a kindred soul ; 

And, yet, though gasping, sore. 

He would not pass into the world 

Beyond, until he sent his love 

To those who were his friends 

On earth — for whom he would 

Provide a cordial welcome 

In the great unknown. 

Old friend, the prospects brighten 

For the life to come, since 

We may hope again to know 

The blessing of your friendship there: 

Comrade, brother, we expect 

To join you in eternal peace! 



A VOICE 

A VOICE at night, in the stillness heard, 
-^-^ But just as clear in the busy throng, 
As sweet as the note of a singing bird, 
And sweeter than any written song. 
Is whispering words that make my heart 
Pulsate in quivering, quickened throbs; 
I stop to listen, but quickly start. 
Amazed to find I am choked by sobs: 
Too late, I know the truth to be. 
The voice of love was calling me. 

[60] 



CONTENT 

I TSELESS both feet, 

^ But swinging along 

On crutches, swaying. 

Almost playing. 

There came from her throat, 

Ravishing, sweet, 

The lilting note 

Of a merry song: 

And I knew what I heard. 

Like the trill of a bird. 

Was a parcel and part 

Of the well of content 

In the depths of her heart: 

The body was bent. 

But beauty and truth. 

Twin vassals of youth, 

Lit luminous eyes 

That mirror the skies 

And the soul, infinite. 



THE SONG SUBLIME 

npHE music written, played or sung, 
"■" May give delight to those who know 
The mysteries and magic tongue 
In which the cadenced phrases flow: 

But every class, in every clime — 
The creatures dumb — or deer, or dove, 
Untutored know the song sublime 
To thrill a heart or tell their love! 

[61] 



THE HARVEST MOON 

nnHE legends say the Harvest moon 
■■■ Is far the best of all the year; 
Perhaps it is, but very soon, 
The same of other moons you hear. 

The beauty lies, not in the star. 
The music sounds, not in the spheres. 
But in the eyes that gaze afar. 
And in the heart, with listening ears. 

The soul that is with love in tune, 
Can find in every earthly thing, 
A far resounding, echoing rune. 
That stirs the heart and makes it sing. 

A heart at peace, a mind at rest. 
Would give to life upon this earth 
A cup so full of what is best, 
That we might scorn a second birth. 



LOVE— BLOOM 

T PLANTED the seed of a flower rare, 
"*- In earth prepared with infinite care; 
But wind and want of rain and sun. 
Completely undid the work that was done. 

Unknowing, unthinking, a love-seed fell 
On soil untilled, in an unknown dell; 
And without the aid of sun or rain. 
Its bloom and perfume have known no 
wane. 

[62] 



A KISS 

I WAKED her with a kiss: 
Who knows what thoughts, unfettered 
then, 
Were flitting through her brain, at rest; 
What visions weird, or dreams again 
Of love unknown, had filled her breast? 
I only know my bliss! 

All dreams may be surmise: 

But when the curtains of her sight 

Were barely drawn a line apart. 

My soul was stilled with sweet delight, 

I knew the joy that filled my heart 

Was love-light from her eyes. 



LOVE'S SYMPHONY 

T IVING can give many joys, 
^ None so great as love may be, 
Time alone all else destroys. 
Love lasts through Eternity. 

Dying may to some give pain. 
One at least may ever deem. 
Life has never been in vain. 
Love has made it one sweet dream. 

For the Future have no fear. 
Let the Past a memory be. 
Listen, you yourself may hear 
Love's ecstatic symphony! 



[63] 



HUMILITY 



T^HE stars that twinkle and that shine 
-*■ A wondrous source of beauty are; 
But science only can opine 
The secret of the shooting star. 



What can the soul, to land chain-bound, 
Pretend to tell us of the sea — 
That restless, boundless girdle 'round 
The earth for all eternity. 

The simple fools may jest and jeer 
Who never raise their eyes above. 
Too ignorant to even fear 
The force or fire of holy love. 

Embrace the heart that has its grief: 
The life that only knows sunshine 
Can have no infinite belief 
In what is human or divine. 

Humility alone can bring 
The mortal mind with God in touch: 
They tell us that the Heavenly King 
Has filled His kingdom full of such. 



[64] 



SEA-GULLS 

"rAR from their homes, on tireless wing, 
■*■ Only the waves of the sea for a bed, 
Sea-gulls will follow, with rhythmical swing. 
While the propellers are forging ahead. 

Distance and time are not factors to them, 
Storms only hasten and help them along: 
Most of their kind they can rightly con- 
temn — 
One shrill, sharp note is the whole of their 
song. 

Even their bed is as restless as they, 
Cooling their feet and caressing their 

breasts : 
Nature, however, has taught them the day 
When to return and revisit their nests. 

FREE 

nnHE mind is free — 
-■■ But not on land, 
And never at sea 
Ltotil the spirit that gave it birth 
Has taught how little this life is worth. 

Without the hand 

Of Deity. 

The heart is free — 
But not below. 
Nor even above. 

Unless some power has made it know 
The bliss that alone can make it so — 
Unbounded love 
Eternally. 

[65] 



LOST AND FOUND 

T ONG, long ago, just when I can't say, 
^ But it seems to me forever and a day, 
I lost my love, and I don't know how — 
Unless — ^but its idle to guess at it now. 

Twice in the night, before it was dawn. 
Came a voice of distress by some spirit 

borne, 
And only the years in the future told 
How two little lambs had entered the fold. 

At last came a line — just a simple note. 
Clear and concise, in which she wrote 
That in trouble and pain the old, old love 
Alone stood the test and was help from 
above. 

Perhaps we shall never discover nor know 
How God works his wonders and makes 

love grow: 
But a force irresistible holds in its power 
The God-born love, not the love of the hour. 

One never can tell what the Future may 

bring, 
We are seldom quite certain of anything; 
But I know that my love in the years gone 

by 
Is still mine to-day and forever and aye. 



[66] 



LOST LOVE 

"VrOU may mock 
-*- At the heart overflowing with grief, 

You may lock 
In your breast any thought of relief, 

But some day 
From the depths of your soul you shall 
know, 

You must say 
No mortal may live without woe! 

My heart bleeds 
When I think of my love in the past; 

My soul needs 
Just one more tender word that may last; 

My will craves 
What it once thought it held quite secure; 

My mind raves 
At the loss it must feel evermore! 

MOTHER-LOVE 

npHE door-step of a busy thoroughfare, 
•*- With surface lines and elevated cars, 
And noisy workers welding iron bars. 
Reveals, in gingham dress, with raven hair, 
A woman of the working, plainer class. 
Whose face is radiant with a careless smile, 
As in her lap, outstretched and happy, while 
Upon its face and head (a tangled mass 
Of dark brown curls) the kisses rain, 
A playful child inspires that mother-love. 
So pure, unselfish, straight from heaven 

above. 
Which never has its like on earth again. 

[67] 



A MYSTERY 

■W7HEN shall we know — God grant it be 

" soon — 

Music unwritten, but heard in our sleep: 
Why does its wonderful entrancing tune 
Lie in a mystery ever too deep? 

Down in his heart, in the peasant's breast, 
Untouched by trouble, and unmoved by 

pain. 
Poetry exquisite, never expressed. 
Flows from an unending, natural vein. 

Working untrammeled by sight and by 

thought, 
Pictures unconsciously limned by the brain, 
Artists remember; but when they are 

sought. 
Canvas and colour refuse them again. 



LOVE-LIGHT 

liyrY heart like a bud that had never 

^^^ bloomed. 

To shade and shadow seemed hopelessly 

doomed. 
No ray of sunshine nor breath of Spring 
Would kiss and keep it from withering. 

The light from a tender, human face. 
Aglow with pity and exquisite grace. 
Illumined the plant, all drooping alone, 
And made from the bud a rose full-blown. 

[68] 



ABOVE THE CLOUDS 

A BOVE the Clouds, 

-^ The vault of Heaven arched and bound- 
less, 
The azure blue so pure and clear. 
The air itself so rare, and fresh and free. 
Instil into the mind the groundless. 
Hopelessness of plans projected here. 
Regardless of the great Eternity 
Above the clouds. 

Above the clouds. 
Our thoughts may always soar with ease, 
And bring to us a fuller dawn, 
Replete with knowledge of a sweeter life. 
In which misfortune and disease 
Can find no place: the weary, worn 
Forget their troubles, know no care nor 

strife 

Above the clouds! 

UNCHANGED 

'T^HE leaves are changed from green to 
■^ gold. 

And silver streaks the auburn hair. 
Sometimes, before its owner fair 
Has known the grief that makes one old; 
The seasons change from warm to cold, 
But human nature everywhere 
Remains the same: at least, one thing 
Unchanged, amidst so much unrest. 
Unfailing joy and peace may bring 
To those who serve its altar best. 

[69] 



DREAMING 

A WAKE and alert, I seem never to see 
■^^ The one whom I know is still waiting 

for me; 
But when I am dreaming, those eyes look 

in mine 
And answer my prayer in a language divine. 

Perhaps in the Future, in worlds still un- 
known, 

My dreaming may bring me the love it has 
sown; 

The life after death all the sweeter should 
be, 

When love is unfettered for Eternity. 



A GOLDEN WEDDING 

TpiFTY happy, golden years! 
-■- Although trials, losses, tears 
May have cast some shadows dark, 
And the carols of the lark 
May have failed to bring you cheer, 
When affliction drew too near; 
Still, the long association 
Is a special dispensation 
Granted to but few below: 
Yours the real joys to know 
Here on earth, and, surely. Love 
Shall provide no less above. 



[70] 



A CROSS 

OIMPLE, but high 
^ On Alpine crest, 
Above the strife 
And stress of life, 
A cross, at rest. 
Kisses the sky! 

Steadfast through storm ; 
The sun ablaze 
With torrid light. 
The moon at night 
With silver rays, 
Outline its form. 

Token sublime 
By ages blest. 
With love untold, 
Your arms enfold 
The heart oppressed 
In every clime. 



[71] 



IF 

TF I could speak, 

-*- The language of the flowers, 

Their fragrance lend 

To every word and phrase, 

What harp or lute. 

With all its subtle powers, 

Would dare contend — 

Unless to suit 

Its music to my lays? 

If I could use 

The language of the birds. 

The melody 

Bewitching of their lays, 

I know my pen 

Would not commit to words 

Or poesy 

My love: but then, 

My heart would sing always. 



A CHORD 

■p|EEP in my heart, is a chord divine, 
-*-^Full of a harmony strange to this earth, 
Until that masterful music of thine, 
Calls it from spirit-land, giving it birth. 

Could I translate into words such a strain. 
Words that the people could grasp every- 
where. 
Nations enchanted would sing the refrain. 
Filling with melody, earth, sea and air. 

[72] 



LOVE'S MESSAGE 

/^N trackless ways, 

^^ For nights and days, 

A message from my soul has sped; 

Incessantly, 

On land and sea, 

It follows boldly, whither led. 

If efforts fail 

On hill and vale 

To reach the heart to which it goes. 

It will defy. 

However high. 

The peaks that boast eternal snows. 

The dark below, 

From which we know 

That raging flames may rarely rise, 

Will only speed 

The soul whose need 

Is love supreme, that never dies. 

I have no fear, 

Though never here 

The message finds its destined goal, 

In spirit land, 

A loving hand 

Will grasp and greet my longing soul. 



[73] 



TEAR DROPS 

T AM thinking of you : 

-*- In the hush of the morn, 

Ere the rose-fingered dawn 

From the darkness is born, 

All alone, heavy hearted, 

Come the dreams when we parted 

Of a love old, yet new. 

I am singing to you: 

In my heart is a strain 

Oft repeated again 

In the same sweet refrain. 

Softly speaking or calling; 

On my cheeks, there are falling 

Pearl tear-drops, like dew. 

I am longing for you: 

Does your heart feel my thought? 

Has your consciousness caught 

From the ether waves naught 

That my heart throbs are saying? 

Ate you yourself praying 

That those dreams may come true? 



[74] 



AFFINITY 

A LONE I've waited, suffered, wept, 
-^ The years have passed, and still my 

grief 
In silence borne, has on me crept: 
The Future holds out no relief. 

It seems that every hope has fled. 
That love and sunshine all about, 
Cannot by chance, upon my head 
Descend, and much less seek me out. 

And yet, another sense has told. 
That on this earth not far from me, 
A heart is beating, in whose hold, 
My own love-fire glows brilliantly. 

How can a flame forever last. 
Without renewing proper food? 
To make it stand the wintry blast. 
Unspoken love can not be crude. 

But not a sign and not a word 
For years between ourselves has passed. 
Unless, perchance, each one has heard 
The other's heart by grief harassed. 



[75] 



ALONE 

T LOVE to listen to the singing birds; 

-*■ The rusthng leaves have music of their 

own: 
But nothing sounds so sweet as do the 

words 
I hear in silence, when I am alone. 

My fancy makes me free to choose the 

voice 
That never fails to lure me by its charm: 
Besides, I am not hindered in my choice 
Of what to hear, and when to take alarm. 

The face of one whose memory is enshrined 
In all the beauty of a boy's love-dream, 
Is with the voice and figure close en- 
twined — 
A picture-poem, like a fairy neem. 

The fragrance of a blooming flower bed, 
The odor from the fresh and new mown hay, 
Revives the recollections of the head 
That once upon my shoulder loved to stay. 

The strains of every air, by time endeared. 
The harmonies that often are not scored. 
Infuse my mind and cause it to be cleared 
Of all unhealthy thoughts it may have 
stored. 

No wonder then, that people are content 
To live alone, and never dare to mate: 
A love unhappy proves the incident 
Preparatory to a better fate. 

[76] 



BOHEMIANS 

■vrOU may have a superstition 
•*- Which amounts to a delusion, 
Or a simple intuition 
That occasions much confusion; 
There are fads and fancies funny 
That may help or harm digestion: 
But Bohemians with money 
Must excite comment and question. 

It is hard to give a reason 
For the foolish things we think; 
It is harder still, in season, 
To command the printers ink: 
But Bohemians are careful 
On the lines where others fail : 
And though seldom ever prayerful. 
They have friendship — not for sale! 

An analysis will prove it. 
That the heart as hard as stone 
(Only dynamite can move it. 
Though it really is bone) 
In Bohemians is missing. 
But, instead you always find 
One whose music, sweet as kissing. 
Throbs with love for human kind. 



[77] 



FAR AND NEAR 

nnHE night is done, 
■*- And linnets are 
Astir: upon 
The eastern sky 
A blush: on high 
No daring star 
Disputes with day 
The right of way; 
And yet, the light 
Confounds my sight — 
For thou art far! 

The day is done, 
But all is clear: 
No midday sun 
Could give more light 
To guide aright 
And calm my fear 
Than that I know 
When from two eyes. 
With feigned surprise, 
The love-beams glow — 
For thou art near! 



[78] 



ROEANNE (9 MONTHS OLD) 

"D ABIES all may interest: 
^ Clothed in little but a smile, 
Each will prove a welcome guest, 
When it coos or tries the while. 

Dimpled wrists and dumpy feet 
Lend their own peculiar charms 
To a baby clean and sweet, 
Nestling in its mother's arms. 

You may think those open eyes 
Prettier if a different hue; 
But the parents who are wise, 
Know that any shade will do. 

Naturally, every dear 
Has some special cunning ways 
Which would take at least a year 
To enumerate; these lays 

Are to tell you of a child — 
Not my own, I grieve to say^ — 
Wondrous fair and meek and mild. 
Full of sunshine all the day. 

From the hour when she was born, 
None who know her can deny, 
Whether it be night or morn, 
She is seldom heard to cry. 

Trustful, calm, a face so rare. 
Surely with those eyes of blue 
And her soft abundant hair. 
She is equalled by but few. 



[79] 



Doubtless this may vex her mind, 
How an angel here below, 
Can the proper helpmate find — 
For her sort is rare, you know. 

Smile and coo in peace, Roeanne: 
You will find when you are grown. 
Peace quite rare, for every man 
Tries to cull a rose full-blown. 



CONTRAST 

A LONG day of work, 
■^"^ A night of unrest. 
Suspicions that lurk 
Where faith should obtain: 
Discouraged by pain. 
Unhappy at best, 
A body not well — 
Does earth hold more hell ? 

A touch of the hand, 
A glance of the eye 
That you understand: 
A word from the heart 
Untrammelled by art. 
Your loved one near by 
To give you a kiss — 
Has Heaven more bliss? 



[80] 



HEART HUNGER 

■piO you listen while you sleep? 
^^ Then I know you hear my cry, 
For in slumber, light or deep, 
I am calling — You know why! 

When you go from place to place, 
Can't you see me at your side? 
Though my eyes be closed, your face 
By my fancy is espied. 

Music strange you hear and feel: 
Do you marvel at its force? 
Gould my spirit to you steal. 
You, at least, would know its source. 

Does the perfume of the flower. 
Bring you pleasure, give you joy? 
This to me gives every hour. 
Thoughts of you that never cloy. 

Though you lost your taste and touch 
Yet the senses left, just three. 
Would sufficient be for such 
Individuality. 

Do the ether waves from you, 
Gause my hungry heart unrest. 
Keep me wondering, is it true. 
While I suffer, God knows best? 



[81] 



ASLEEP 

/^UR ship is delayed by the force of the 

^-^ gale, 

And tossed by the billows and beaten by 

hail, 
But peacefully dreaming, my darling asleep 
In a trundle-bed cot, is unmoved by the 

deep. 

Sweetly sleep! 

The hand of another will 
Temper the storm: 
The heart of a mother still 
Shelters your form. 

The years that shall follow may bring you 

delight, 
Or even a lover to guard you at night; 
But only the love of a mother may last 
When fortune and friends are but dreams of 

the past. 

Sweetly sleep! 

The hand of another will 
Temper the storm: 
The heart of a mother still 
Shelters your form. 



[82] 



TRUTH 

WHO knows the spirit inspiring song 
birds? 
How do they learn what so sweetly they 

sing? 
May be their music is too rare for words, 
Save for the words that their own fancies 
bring. 

Can we explain how some wonderful song 
Comes to the writer unbidden, unsought, 
Unless his muse is compelled by some wrong, 
Or by some pleasure that's too dearly 
bought. 

Only the heart that has suffered and 

grieved. 
Knows how to touch by its voice or its word, 
That of another too often deceived. 
Whether the message be old or unheard. 

One kind of music and one kind of song. 
Ever strikes deep and in memory stays. 
That from the heart, which can never be 

wrong. 
Having the Truth as its key-note always. 



[83] 



AN INSPIRATION 

OHE held my hand: 

^ And as her dark eyes flashed 

Discreetly, pressed it, unabashed, 

A magic wand 
To give an inspiration for a song: 
No one could fail to write 
When sensation, touch and sight 
Compelled creative thoughts to surge along. 

She held my hand: 
The voice of Spring rang clear, 
The leaves and birds were near — 

You understand — 
All nature felt a new impulse in life : 

The Winter chill had passed. 

Until I saw aghast. 
The man who wanted her to be his wife ! 



SILENCE AND SONG 

T CANNOT sing: 

-*- Bright though the day, 

Dark seems the way 

While memories are haunting me 

Of one who long since crossed the sea 

In early Spring. 

At sight of thee. 

Even the night 

Borrows new light 

Fi-om distant orbs to give a charm. 

My heart is free from all alarm — 

I sing with glee. 



[841 



INTUITION 

nnHE birds seek shelter safely in the 
■■- boughs, 

The lambs, by hills protected, fear no wind, 
But mortals, who depend upon the vows 
So rashly made, so easy to rescind. 
Ignore the one, supreme, unfailing sense 
That offers even animals defense. 

The ceremonies by the church compelled, 

The forms provided by the civil laws. 

May merge two names, but never may they 

meld 
Two hearts discordant: if you seek the 

cause. 
Neglect of intuition tells the tale 
Of why such unions know no word but fail. 

THE STRUGGLE 

nnHE path of knowledge is the same, 
■"- Defiant, difficult, obscure; 
The goal, success — no easy game 
For rich to play, much less for poor. 

Sharp, cruel thorns beset the way. 
The climb for many is too steep. 
And ere they see the dawn of day. 
Most weary toilers fall asleep. 

The dreamer works, the worker dreams. 
Each striving, struggling for the goal, 
And while they press their futile schemes, 
Each loses more — a mortal soul. 

[85] 



MON DESIR 

OOME attracted by a face, 
^ Follow blindly any pace; 
More pursue a money prize, 
Often won by fraud and lies : 
Others for a lithesome form 
Weather any kind of storm: 
Many are by titles drawn, 
Early taught on rank to fawn: 
Graces rare, so sweet to see. 
When possessed from infancy, 
May escape a searching eye, 
If no cloud obscures the sky : 
But I know the better part. 
Hidden by consummate art — 
That which worships at the shrine 
Of the cross — your soul divine — 
Glows in grief that none may borrow: 
Will you let me share your sorrow? 



PHYLLIS (16 MONTHS OLD) 

■pHYLLIS you may never know 

-■- How your gift has touched my heart, 

Nor how every day you grow 

Charms from which you may not part. 

Later, when some man shall claim 

All your love eternally. 

Giving you his heart and name. 

Can you keep a place for me? 

[86] 



A CONTRALTO 

nPHE secret of the voice you know: 
■■" The 'cello tones so deep and low 
Come faultlessly and free; 
But do you feel that sweeter thrill 
Your heart pulsating, never still 
Can give so secretly? 

Perhaps that very mellow tone 

Will wake the heart that with your own 

Pulsates in unison: 

Will make the chord none else may hear, 

Except the one for whom it's clear — 

When two hearts sound like one! 



ALOFT 

■JYI ASTER of land and sea 
■*"" For many years, the mind 
Has solved the mystery 
Of winged things: the wind 
Its servant, bears and speeds 
The craft from place to place 
More swiftly than the pace 
Of falcons fast, and feeds 
Aloft with purer air 
The fancy fine; while Care, 
The brute that all annoys 
And stoutest hearts corrodes, 
In vain the soul assails 
That carried by the gales 
Above the clouds, enjoys 
Aerial abodes. 

[87] 



A SONG- WRITER 

/^NLY to look in those wondrous eyes, 
^^ Out of whose depths subtle harmonies 

flow, 
Brings back the hopes of a lost paradise. 
Seen once in dreams, in the years long ago. 

Hearing the thoughts hidden deep in your 

mind. 
Rapturous, written in musical phrase. 
Transports the senses until they may find 
Heaven revealed in melodious lays. 



FORTUNATE 

CHE put the rose upon her breast: 
^ And as it moved in sweet unrest, 
I thought the flower fortunate, 
Despite the fact that envious fate 
Would wilt the leaves, the colour fade ; 
That soon the vibrant passion shade 
Would lose its lustre and depart: 
At least, it slept upon her heart, 
By living apples twain caressed 
And knew one hour supremely blessed. 



[88] 



FLOWER FANCIES 



A WILD ROSE 

■jHAR from the beaten paths and tracks, 
-'- Out in the jungle, all alone, 
Singing its song in colour tone. 
Breathing a fragrance nothing lacks. 
Modestly flourished a sweet wild rose. 

Winnowed, perhaps, from some hidden 

bower. 
Why it should seek such a faraway spot. 
The wind, its carrier, tells me not: 
Why it would waste its short-lived hour. 
Only the soul of the flower knows. 



CARNATIONS 

pARNATIONS may my thought reveal, 
^ If colours give a real tone. 
Unless their fragrance shall conceal 
The music which is theirs alone. 

Perhaps, your latent art can feel 
From them an added force to grow: 
At least, their beauty must appeal 

To those who understand and know, 

• 

[91] 



ROSE-BLOOM 

TTIDDEN in the earth, a seed 
■'-'*' Patiently in silence grows, 
Satisfied because it knows 
God will tend its every need: 
Casting off the shroud of night. 
To the world its foliage shows 
Why its heart was glad — the light 
Lingered, loved, and left a rose. 

But its mission, who may tell? 
Will it blossom at its best 
When the sun has sought the West? 
Or will one who loves it well 
Wrest it from its bed of clay. 
Clasp it to her heaving breast. 
Where, to dwell for just one day, 
Is enough, by love caressed. 



[92] 



VIOLETS 

A ROSE may blush, 
"^ But what may violets do 
When, nestled close to you, 
They hear entrancing music, new, 
Except to shew a deeper hue. 
And breathe their fragrance sweet, 
Until your senses feel and greet 
Their song and hush! 



ENTHRALLING 

T FOUND a rose-bud on the floor, 
-■" So young, so soft, so sweet, so pink; 
And since, I wonder more and more 
If once its owner stopped to think 
What danger lurked when to its bloom. 
An added fragrance from its fair 
But careless wearer gave perfume 
Enthralling those who breathed the air. 
Perhaps, it never has been missed: 
And yet, it were a rich bequest 
For him who loved the maid that kissed 
And clasped it closely to her breast. 

[93] 



PRETTY PANSY 

pRETTY pansy, delicate, 
-^ Let me ask you, ere too late, 
How your colours mix and blend, 
Whence the fragrance that you lend 
Even to the ruthless hand 
Plucking you from out the sand: 
How such tender thoughts you stir, 
Though a silent listener. 
Were you, dainty, graceful thing. 
Moulted from a Love-God's wing? 
Can you heal a wounded heart. 
Or is this beyond your art? 
Tell your secrets just to me: 
I shall guard them jealously! 



THE POPPY 

rpROM battle fields the poppy springs 
-■- Suffused with memories it brings ; 
And were not speech to flowers denied, 
The tale of those who fought and died 
Could reach the mother heart possessed 
By grief and give it peace and rest: 
But since we know the richer hue 
To blood of heroes must be due, 
In reverence we speak the name: 
Imperishable now its fame. 



[94] 



SPRING SONGS 



A-WHISPERING 

T FEEL a change in everything, 

-*• And all in the space of a day: 

Some birds to the North are taking wing, 

While those in the South already sing 

In their own unequalled way. 

A bud appears on a leafless tree, 

The grass is no longer grey. 

Upon a naked bush you see 

Where nature kissed it secretly 

To clothe it in colours gay. 

Linger, listen! Can't you hear 

Spring a- whispering in your ear? 



EXPECTANCY 

PHE buds are here: 

*■ The birds are still on the wing, 
But not so far away, 
And almost any day, 

feel they must come and bring 
To my eager ear. 
The new notes learned 
On their Southern flight: 
At break of dawn, the light 
May show them returned. 
And the air shall ring 
With the themes they sing 
To herald the Spring. 



[97] 



A BREATH OF SPRING 

A BALMY breeze no eye may see 
■^-^ Is wafted through the topmost boughs 
And even to the root endows 
With sap and green the silent tree. 

Its leaves with melody abound, 
The birds its branches fill with song: 
Below, a weird mysterious throng — 
Elusive shadows — play around. 

Throbbing with ecstasy, everything 
Wakes from its lethargy, eager for strife, 
Feeling a yearning for love and life. 
Thrilled by the quickening breath of Spring. 



THE SOFT SOUTH WIND 

wnNTER still grips the earth and trees: 

" Timorous birds make a hurried flight, 
But twitter and trill with suppressed delight 
As they flit on a balmier breeze: 
Sooner than any of human kind 
They feel and know that mystery 
Repeating itself in history 
For aeons passed — that the soft South wind 

Awakens the earth 

And hastens the birth 

Of the buds and plants: 

And each throat pants 

With desire to sing. 

Because it is Spring. 

[98] 



THE SECRET 



nnHE snow and silence hear 
■*■ When Spring with whirring wing 
Sets nature all a-stir 



And wakes the birds that sing 
Enchanting rondelays: 
Sometimes they fail to bring 

Through weary nights and days 
The message that your heart 
Has hungered for always ; 

And, yet, when they depart, 
This truth we have and hold, 
That with exquisite art 
The secret has been told. 



A ROBIN 

npHE stillness of an April morn 
•*- Was broken by the stirring note 
That from a happy, throbbing throat 
Was welcoming the rosy dawn. 

Aroused, I heard this message clear 
The robin on a leafless tree 
Was carolling repeatedly: 
Awake! Rejoice! The Spring is here! 



[99] 



THE BLUE-BIRD 

pLINGING, 

^ Swinging, 
Joyously trusting the wind 
With something its own heart knows, 
A blue-bird, flaunting the snows, 
Merrily trills: Go find 
Where the violet grows 
And search for a rose: 
Already the Spring 
Gives to everything 
A voice that must sing. 

Ringing, 

Winging. 



[100] 



SONG CYCLES 



IMMANUEL 

"TONS pass, but every Hebrew maid 
^*-^ Hopeful waits and listens yearning: 
Palpitating hearts, and burning 
Souls impatient, unafraid, 

Watchful wonder, 

Prayerful ponder 
Who shall be the mother blessed. 
By whose hand and at whose breast 
God has planned to have the child 
Brought to full maturity. 
Pure and holy, undefiled 
With assured security. 

By the angel Gabriel, 

Tidings of Immanuel, 

Secrets of Elizabeth 

Reach the city Nazareth, 

In the heart of Gallilee: 

From his lips the Virgin heard: 

"Fear not, Mary,-' and this word: 

"Favoured; all eternity 

Bless and praise the son to be — 

JESUS, Son of God, and thee!'' 

Anxiously going. 
Wondering, knowing 
Ecstasy fine: 
Watchfully caring. 
Consciously bearing' 
Concept divine: 
"Holy His name ! 
Merciful Saviour, 
Always the same!" 



[103 J 



Once in each revolving year, 
Comes the season sweet to those 
Who have hearts attuned to hear 
Helpless infants when they cry: 
Hushed the cradle — still the sky 
Holds the stars the wise men chose 
As their guide to Bethlehem, 
Where, as every one now knows, 
In a manger, marked for them. 
Lay a child, a prince, a King! 
Prophesied for years to bring 
Peace, good-will, and happiness 
To a world in great distress: 
One whose life and power to lift. 
Burdens painfully endured 
By the lepers, never cured. 
Was the special, blessed gift 
Granted only at his birth 
To the Son of God on earth. 

A thousand times ten thousand years, 
Cannot efface the wonder wrought 
By power sublime: time but endears 
The birth so long by sages sought, 
The life so full of bitter tears. 
The death by which eternal life 
Was made an heritage secure. 
And all this hard and cruel strife 
Could end in peace for evermore. 

In the Heavenly choir 
You may hear this refrain: 
*'He is coming again. 
In a pillar of fire. 
With affection, not ire: 

[104] 



From the right hand of God 
He hath taken the Book, 
And shall reap from the sod — 
Yea, from each little nook — 
The rich harvest, so rife; 
And a stream, crystal clear, 
Pure, with water of life. 
Takes away every tear." 



LOVE DIVINE 

A FAIRY Sprite, 
■^^ A child of three, 
Happy and free. 
In dappled light. 
Under a tree. 
Dancing and swinging, 
Laughing and singing, 
Enraptures me! 

A maid, I ween. 

At least sixteen, 

Feeling the fire 

Of golden youth. 

Full of desire 

To know the truth: 

The earth below 

And the sky above her,' 

The streams as they flow 

In their winding way. 

The stars and the moon 

To my heart plainly say : 



[105] 



She has come; the boon 

Of this life you may know — 

Tell her that you love her! 

Oh! for the language in which the heart 

speaks ! 
How can the voice surcharged with love, 
Eager to shout from the topmost peaks 
Paeans of joy to the stars above, 
Tell in soft whispers the story of old. 
Place on her finger the circlet of gold 
Binding for life, yet making so free 
Souls that are mated eternally? 

Let silence speak : no words can tell 
The feelings in my heart so deep: 
Unless my sighs can make her weep, 
Unless my eyes tear-stained dispel 
Distrust, or pity at my grief 
Can faith, affection, love compel, 
As well as infinite belief. 
My soul its tender thoughts must keep 
To treasure in the endless sleep! 

She is mine ! 

Yes! for twenty years 

We have shared every sorrow. 

And known that to-morrow 

For us had no fears. 

Hearts clean and pure 

Bound by faith evermore. 

Live to learn and learn to live. 

Know the best that God can give — 

Love divine. 

[106] 



WORLD WAR WEAVINGS 



THE CONFLICT 

TVTAR, a madness, hews its path 

" Through peace and plenty, though 
The Christ has come and taught and gone 
Almost two thousand years! 
The useless, bitter tears 
Of widowed, pregnant women, worn, 
(Ten million aching hearts forlorn) 
Can never drown the woe 
That follows in the wake: the wrath 
Of injured nations, when assuaged. 
Must leave a trail of waste and death. 
With refuse, corpses, offal foul 
Polluting many a water-way — 
And none to garner grain by day. 
While any blinking, barking owl 
At night may hoot with tuneless breath 
Where people's rights have been outraged. 
And shall we never know the peace 
That passeth understanding here? 
Our culture, boasted must appear 
A savage jest: the only lease 
Perpetual is based on might — 
Unless the brotherhood of man 
Shall shed a kindlier, holy light 
To change the present human plan. 



[109] 



AN APPEAL 

W;rARRIORS, brothers, from hatred 
™ awake ! 

Now, in a frenzy misguided, you take 
Lives that are precious, and give up your 

own: 
Vengeance belongs to the Father alone. 

What is the profit? Where is the gain? 
Millions are wounded or crippled, or slain: 
None seek your country, but all the world 

grieves ; 
Sorrow comes quickly, how slowly it leaves ! 

Civilization and culture demand 

Peace for the arts and for each native land: 

Silence the cannons! The swords — let them 

rust! 
Brotherhood, love are the weapons to trust. 



[110] 



THE HARVEST 

TNHUMAN, ruthless rulers, late 

-*- So learned, now so full of hate 

That neither law nor right appeal; 

Unmindful of the common weal 

And human sufferings : to all 

Who fail with you to stand or fall. 

Or happening on your wretched path 

Of desolation, dare your wrath, 

A mere machine of Hell that kills — 

The time must shortly come that fills 

The cup to overflowing! Then, 

Discredited, despised, all men 

With blasphemy shall join your name: 

Your people branded by your shame 

For years to come, must surely learn 

In time, your iron hand to spurn: 

That for a dynasty their sons — 

The decent, honest, worthy Huns — 

In vain have shed their blood ; and not 

Their deaths can cleanse the awful blot. 

Nor purge the nation, once so wise 

On which the world with grateful eyes 

Admiring gazed. Your work is done: 

Your word is broken: where is one 

Who trusts your promises? The day 

Is near for democratic sway: 

Upon your heads, your very own 

Shall heap the harvest you have sown 

And wrest from shame their troubled race 

To rise and hold an honored place! 



[Ill: 



OUR FLAG 

CTRIPES, alternate red and white, 
^ Stars upon a field of blue, 
Emblem glorious — the sight 
Thrills the very heart of you! 

Everywhere it floats or flies. 
All the world shall surely know 
Human life and mortal ties 
Safe and sacred thrive and grow. 

Peoples garnered by the winds 
Sweeping over every sea. 
Learn the liberty that binds. 
Love the flag that made them free! 



WOOD AND IRON 

A CHANT of love — a song of hate — 
•^^ For each, a cross the fitting gift 
And token, rightly understood: 
Our Saviour on a cross of wood 
Was nailed on high, to expiate 
The sins of others and to lift 
From hapless man the curse of Cain: 
An iron cross too light a weight. 
But suited to the loveless breast 
That knows not peace, that cannot rest. 
Embittered by a song of hate: 
Impaled, the cross shall there remain! 

[112] 



UNAFRAID 

A BLAZE with light, 
■^^ And holding to her breast 

A precious weight, 
The river, restive from the tide. 
Upbears a nation's armored pride — 
A fleet, serene at rest, 

Insatiate 
At bay, and belching shot and shell 
As if the very powers of Hell 

Were loosed. Humanity 
May count upon its ready aid : 
Its voice explosive, unafraid. 

Upon the land and sea, 

Demands the right. 



[113] 



THE TOCSIN 

T^HE tocsin sounds, and every breeze 
-■- That sweeps the earth or stirs the seas 
Is pregnant with its melodies: 
America for liberty 
And suffering humanity 
Unsheathes the sword: with all her might, 
Unflinchingly, she joins the fight 
To curb and crush autocracy 
And prove her own democracy: 
Her blood and treasure she will give 
That others too may work and live 
Untrammeled: nothing less could make 
Her follow in the gruesome wake 
That carnage leaves: and nothing more 
She seeks, except to pry the door 
Ajar that leads to law and right. 
Forever keeping day and night 
An open path and shining light! 



April 6th, 1917. 



[114] 



CHATEAU-THIERRY 

T TPON the sacred soil of France 

^ Where naught had stayed the Hun 

advance 
For many days and nights, the tread 
Of troops untried, untiring, led 
By forces spiritual, sublime. 
Was heard afar, in measured time. 
A single aim impelled each breast 
That journeyed from the far-off West — 
To stem a plague — the robber band 
That pillaged, raped and raised its hand 
Against the laws of God and men; 
That murdered women, maidens, when 
Its lust was satisfied; that knew 
No law but force ; that even slew 
The helpless, nursing babes — the Hun, 
A beast unspeakable! Let none 
Forget his many deeds of shame! 
Unmindful of the holy flame 
That blued the blade of liberty, 
He boasted that democracy 
Would never risk its freedom gained 
In years long passed — so long maintained 
Without a struggle; that its quest 
Was ever gain — unscarred its breast 
By Fate or need, it could not fight. 
Untutored and afraid. Their might 
Was heralded to every clime, 
While right, a stranger, bode its time. 
At Chateau-Thierry soon they learned 
The freebom men of peace they spurned; 

[1151 



And as their lines would melt away, 

And every effort failed to stay 

The irresistible onslaught 

Of decent, fearless foes, they sought 

A refuge by a swift retreat — 

But swifter still the freemen's feet 

Pursued, until aloud they cried 

To get an armistice: they died 

In masses on each other piled: 

The woods and streams were all defiled 

By corpses foul: so fast they fled 

They would not pause to shroud their dead! 

America, at least, in part. 

Had paid her debt to France : her heart 

And blood and brain, the world must see 

Are at the call of Liberty. 



[116] 



GLADSOME GREETINGS 



A WHIM 

TT may be just a whim of mine, 

■■- But when I greet the New Year day, 

Before me stands a living Hne 

Of those who on this mundane way 

Make life so sweet: the spirits, too, 

Of friends who, silent, tread the road 

That all must learn, in this review. 

Appear from that unknown abode, 

To testify that love remains 

Imperishable. You are one 

Whose image clear and dear obtains 

In the array of those upon 

The earth; and this the reason why 

I send my word of love ahead. 

To tell you so before we lie 

Inanimate, upon our bed. 



FANCY KIND 

A CHRISTMAS thought 
■^^ Is in my mind: 
It was not sought. 
But sent, or brought 
By fancy kind: 
A Friendship true 
For yours, and you. 
This blessed day. 
Henceforth, alway! 



[119] 



AWAKE! ARISE! 

A WAKE, arise! 
•^^ The swiftly racing earth 
Again revolving, brings 
The day beloved — the birth 
Of Christ — for which there rings 
From many an old church tower 
The deep- toned bells: 
Some distant dells 
With cannons, at this hour, 
Resound; but over all. 
The silent spirit call — 
The voice of childhood — louder still 
On land and sea, in air shall fill 
Each aching heart with carolling 
How death itself has lost its sting 
Through life eternal: then, 
The human ties too strong. 
May dim or hush the song: 
The respite short, again. 
To arms, he cries! 



[120] 



A LOVE WORD 

THHE time is here: 
■*- Another year 
Has brought the happy day 
For children all, and you 
And me — let none gainsay 
That we are children too ! 
Away with care: 
Rejoice and share 
The smile contagious: lend 
A helping hand — some heart 
Is bowed — a love-word send 
To lift the load in part : 
For hope and cheer, 
The time is here! 



OLD AND NEW 

npHE old year dies, the new year brings 
■*• Its multitude of unborn things 
That may or may not make for peace: 
But why permit the faithful heart 
To be disturbed by what may be? 
From what has been, we have release: 
Likewise, the days that shall depart 
Must solve the troubles none foresee: 
A new year, on the tireless wings 
Of Time, a cheering message brings! 

[121] 



A FEAR 

TTPON me sometimes steals a fear 
^ That when I send a word of cheer, 
At intervals of just one year, 
You may this crucial fact forget. 
That any day I have not met 
A friend, is lost: and yet. 
You ask me; How can this be true? 
Your feelings ought to answer you — 
If not, no word of mine will do. 
Because the Christmas season lends 
Its charms to little ones, and blends 
The loving thoughts of real friends. 



THE DAY 

A NOTE of discord and unrest 
^^ May mar our cheer; 
But, every year. 
There is a day supremely blest 
When hearts attuned in rhythm pulsate: 
Rejoice and sing 
With carolling — 

That day of days propitious Fate 
Proclaims! Let Peace 
Abide and sorrow cease! 

[122] 



RING THE BELLS! 

■piNG the bells! 
■■■*• The guns are hushed, 
The crowns are crushed. 
The world no longer weeps: 
Upon the earth and sea — 
In air — the misery 
Of strife and anger sleeps: 
Ring the bells! 

Ring the bells! 
The cradle timie 
In every clime 
Is here: the girls and boys 
Have won the fight 
For peace and right — 
Who dares curtail their joys? 

Ring the bells! 



[123] 



GOLDEN GRAIN 

T^HIS greeting speeds 
-■- To many friends 
Of many creeds: 
The season tends 
A tone esthetic to the joys 
That thrill the hearts of girls and boyi 
When grown-ups too, may feel again 
The time to winnow golden grain — 
The best in life: 
Away with care — 
The day is rife 
With blessings rare ! 



YOUR BIT 

wnTHIN your heart you almost know 
^ My Christmas fancies, how they go: 
This year compels a different strain 
To wing my message once again: 
Your Country reaches out to aid 
The human race: Be not afraid 
To do your bit, however small — 
Our Country needs the help of all! 

[124] 



GERMAN GLEANINGS 



BRIEF ANSWER 

CWEETHEART, what dost thou, the live- 

^ long day? 

Thousands of things. 

When I am far, what feelest thou, say? 

Thousands of things. 

Make a confession — what dreams in the 

night? 
Thousands of them. 
When thou hast wakened, what says the 

daylight? 
Thousands of things. 
Harborest secretly wishes, tell? 
Thousands of them. 
Hast thou among them a nook where I 

dwell? 
Thousands of them. 



AZURE EYES 

XT^OUR eyes of blue, so still, but free, 

I searched — their depths I found: 
You ask me what it is I see : 
I'm healed of every wound. 

That pair of eyes have left a sear 
Whose afterpains still rule; 
But like the sea, those eyes are clear. 
And like the sea, so cool! 

[127] 



DOST RECALL? 

UNDER the linden trees blowing, 
Dost recall? 
No end to our happiness knowing, 

Nor finding, 
First thou kissed me, 
Then I kissed thee. 
Perhaps, honey child, it was sinful. 
But sweet, very sweet, was it not? 

Your father would shout to the bower- 
Dost recall? 

We kept just as still as a flower — 
He could call: 



PROPHET AND POET 

pROPHET, pray quickly me tell 

-■- Why flowers and children together 

dwell : 
Pensive, the prophet stroked his beard. 
Go to the poet, perhaps, he has heard: 
Answer me poet, and hastily say 
Why flowers and children together stay: 
And my poet thought not long: 
Finding a rhyme with pith and song. 
This is the charm of blooms and child. 
That neither can know of their grace unde- 

filed. 
0, thank you, thank you, poet mine, 
Your words so sweet my heart entwine. 

[128] 



AFTER HEINE 

lyrlGHT rested on my eye lids, 
•^^ My mouth was sealed by lead, 
My brain and heart were frigid. 
The ground my grave, my bed. 

How long the time, I know not. 
That sleep held me a slave: 
At last, I wakened, hearing 
A knocking on my grave. 

When wilt thou rise, my Heinrich? 
It is the judgment morn; 
The dead are all arisen. 
Eternal joy is born. 

I cannot rise, my loved one. 
The light no more I see: 
Mine eyes from ceaseless weeping 
Are blind entirely. 

For thee, I'll kiss, dear Heinrich, 
The night from out thine eyes, 
And thou shalt see the angels. 
And splendor of the skies. 

I cannot rise, my darling. 
Still bleeds my heart so free. 
Where, by a word too bitter. 
It once was pierced by thee. 

I'll rest my hand, my Heinrich, 
But lightly on thy heart, 
And stop the flow forever. 
And heal the wounded part. 



[129] 



I cannot rise, my dearest, 
My head wounds bleed — just see 
The hole my bullet furrowed. 
When thou wast torn from me. 

With my own curls, dear Heinrich, 
I'll fill thy head's deep wound, 
And staunch the flowing blood-stream 
Until relief be found. 

So soft she plead, so loving 
I could no more refrain. 
And strove to lift my body, 
To join my love again. 

Then gaped my wounds wide open; 
The spurting vessels take 
From head and heart the blood-stream- 
And lo! I am awake! 



FOLKSONG 

W/'HEN I walk in the garden early, 
^ Wearing my bonnet green, 
I am first thinking merely. 
What now my love may glean. 

In heaven dwells no star 
That I my friend would envy: 
My heart I would not bar. 
If I could tear it from me. 



[130] 



THE WITCHSONG 
(Ernst von Wildenbruch) 

AT Herzfeld abbey, the prior told 
•^^ How brother Medardus, grown weak 

and old, 
Could scarcely, he thought, outlive the day: 
"Haste, brother confessor," said he, "away 
And bid him confess his sins to thee. 
Although I know that few they be: 
The cloister fifty years to-day 
He serves, and in its shades grew gray: 
By fasts and penitences he, 
Prepared, awaits eternity: 
Of all, he is the holiest 
And will th' Almighty please the best." 
The priest then knocked at Medardus' 

door — 
A silence answered, nothing more: 
The confessor crossed the threshold well 
And strode within Medardus' cell: 
And hour on hour the hours fared; 
Amazed, the monks in wonder stared: 
"Medardus, blameless in words and acts — 
What can he reveal about sinful facts?" 

The vesper bells, with muffled call 

To chapel summoned brothers all : 

They bowed their heads, they knelt around, 

For brother Medardus low prayers 

resound — 
But list! there comes from far away 
A pitiful voice in a mournful lay. 

[131] 



Up rose the prior from the ground: 
The monks gave ear with care profound. 
*ln Medardus' cell the song is ringing — 
It is Medardus who is singing!'' 
They heard and asked: What can that be? 
Those are not prayers and litany: 
That sounds like sinful, worldly prate: 
And see! and see! within the gate 
The confessor hastes, by terror pressed! 
"The Devil is the cloister guest! 
Medardus to the Tempter fell — 
Medardus feels the clutch of Hell!" 
The prior lit the holy wand 
And held the candle in his hand: 
The monks, with tapers lit, beside 
The prior walked, with measured stride: 
The walls and halls re-echoing rang 
The plaintive chant the brothers sang: 
"From sinful lust, from Satan's might. 
By grace protect us, God of Light." 

The cell was open — white, haggard, thin, 

Medardus lay on a poor cot within. 

His folded hands in fervent prayer. 

His eyes with livid fire aglare: 

From stammering, quivering lips, a song 

Unending, wild, was forced along: 

A song so strange, a song forlorn. 

Of longing love, of blasphemous scorn — 

As if from far-off lands the air 

Brought perfumes captivating, rare: 

It was a song unlike a note 

That ever came from human throat — 

[132] 



A waii of woe — then frenzied zest, 

With terror, rapture filled each breast. 

The monks their holy candles waved: 

*'Fly, Satan, let his soul be saved!" 

Their crosses swayed, their censers swung — 

Medardus all the wilder sung; 

And deep each heart atremble rang 

The sinful song Medardus sang. 

On the monks there stole like a longing 

dread 
A deep, gnawing grief for their lives misled: 
They thought of the things they now had 

not. 
Of the days of their youth long since forgot ; 
And slower, still slower the sound of the 

choir — 
Then silence — they listened, enthralled by 

his fire. 

The prior, pious, zealous, and gray, 
With horror filled, stood looking his way: 
To brother Medardus he called in a tone 
In which righteous wrath was plainly 

shown : 
''Wouldst thou the brothers lead astray? 
Begone, damned soul, to Hell away!" 
And see! from his cot, Medardus arise! 
A luminous glint his face glorifies. 
His vacant eyes at distance stare, 
As if by a vision enraptured there: 
Then, suddenly, tears down his cheeks 

streaming ran: 
To the brothers Medardus to speak began: 

\\.U\ 



**I once was a priest, was pious like you, 

Devoutly I read my breviary too. 

With a fear and a fervor that rose to a 

flood, 
For young were my limbs, and hot was my 

blood : 
The flaxen locks hung down from my head 
As if streams of gold were overspread; 
And when first they did my tonsuring. 
It was like they mowed the meadows in 

Spring. 
That was the time when our native land 
Was held in the grip of Satan's hand : 
To lives of shame the women were turned. 
And witches were bound at the stake and 

burned. 
That time, there came, as I sat there, 
In the dead of night, my lamp aglare, 
A rap on my door, a knock, a shout — 
*We need you, father, make haste, come 

out!' 
The night was dark, and hollow the squall 
As I was led to a bastion wall 
Deep under the earth, down a slippery 

flight. 
Till it seemed that Hell must heave in sight. 
A torch within my hand was placed; 
In a wall of stone, a hole I faced: 
'A witch to-morrow, in fire aglow, 
Atones for her sins: to her now go: 
A blessed death for her prepare, 
And save her sinful soul by prayer!' 
The bowels of the earth I sought, 

[134] 



And in my throat my breath was caught: 

From somewhere came a grating sound 

Of clanking chains, and grief profound; 

And in the darkest corner lay, 

As in its lair a beast of prey, 

A woman cowering and bent, 

Her head against the damp wall leant: 

The torch I fastened to a rung 

That from the ceiling, hanging, swung: 

*Thy face upon me turn,' I said: 

*Come, sister, here, be not afraid/ 

I saw how her ear my greetings drank — 

How hand after hand from her face she 

sank : 
Her head she turned, then looked to see, 
And on her knees she crawled to me : 
Her naked arms my knees embrace. 
Her eyes are rooted on my face: 
I looked down, the torch, with dancing light, 
Illumined her beautiful face outright: 
I felt my heart melt, warmed by hers — 
My eyes were filled with scalding tears; 
My lips were mute, as pity crept. 
And silent, sobbing, we both wept; 
And when my tears she saw, at last, 
With trembling arms, she held me fast; 
A sob deep of her bosom sprang, 
From stammering lips a whisper rang: 
Thou canst still weep? Thou weepest for 

me? 
As I love the good Saviour, I love also thee/ 
I was seized by fright at her words of dis- 
grace : 

[135] 



'Recall the hour: remember the place 
Thy body to-morrow in flames shall bum: 
Repent, confess, to Heaven turn!' 
With startled mien she said to me: 
* Why must I repent ? From guilt I am free. 
My parents are dead: alone in a dell. 
With grandmother, I was wont to dwell: 
My grandmother knew many herbs that 

cure. 
And many a potion prepared for the poor: 
But grandmother, bound at the stake, was 

burned 
As a devil's witch — so I have learned. 
An ancient song my grandmother sang, 
I learned from her lips, so sweetly it rang: 
She told me it came from a far-away land 
Whose people love-magic could understand: 
I sang it, but knew not its meaning: then 
I was seized by the hands of heartless men 
And thrown into prison — this dungeon cell: 
They said that it was the worm of Hell 
That sang out of me to corrupt the race: 
So to-morrow I burn at the stake in dis- 
grace/ 

Her tremulous lips to my ear closely press, 
Her eye is imploring, in fright and distress; 
On mine her heaving bosom lies — 
'Oh, save me!' said she. 'Oh, save me!' 

she cries: 
'To live is so sweet, and death is so dire. 
And dreadful the anguish to perish by firer 
No creature have I offended or gi'ieved, 

[136] 



No sin have I done, nor witchcraft con- 
ceived : 
The hearts of men are just Hke stone, 
But thou art good, thou still canst moan: 
The jailer sleeps, the door is free. 
Come, let me fly, and fly with me! 
We'll tread so softly that none may hear, 
The torch we shall smother, no light to 

fear; 
The turret gate leads out to the field. 
No one can see, to none must we yield: 
When break of day the cocks have told. 
We shall be far away, in the distant wold: 
The forest is dark, the trees are dense, 
I know a place that no one shall sense: 
I know a region — the very spot 
A treasure lies hidden and long forgot: 
We shall search and find it: thou'lt take 

it away. 
Afar we shall fly, and there we will stay, 
In a foreign land, just thou with me. 
And ever and ever, just I with thee. 
No wife to thy heart hast thou clasped 

in caress. 
Nor knowest how love of a woman may 

bless : 
Richer the love that thou shalt know 
Than any man on earth, I trow: 
The stars are fading, the hours race by, 
It is time, it is time! Oh, come, let us fly!' 

Her heated breath like the storm-wind blew. 
Her white arms round my neck she threw; 

[137J 



Her hair as dark as the wings of night, 
Her limbs encircled, voluptuous sight! 
With reeling head and with writhing heart, 
Ecstatic, lustful passions start; 
I bent lower down, her kisses I sought, 
Then, trembling, I felt as if back again 

brought : 
Thou kissest a witch, thou blessest her 

crime : 
No share in God's favor hast thou for all 

time.' 
The word upon my lips was dead: 
I flung her from my heart and fled, 
By terror driven from her dwelling — 
Her screams with despair and grief were 

welling : 
She fell to the earth, she lay on the stones. 
And after me followed her sobs and her 

groans : 
But I fled on, out into the night, 
On my knees in prayer, awake until light. 
Till the night had passed, till the horror 

was born — 
And the horror came at the break of dawn. 

The heaven blazed with morning flame. 
The people swarming, hurrying came: 
In a field far out, where logs were massed, 
The stake stood dark, by gloom o'ercast — 
And every eye was fixed on the pyre — 
There stood she, awaiting her torture by 
fire. 

[138] 



Like fluttering birds lost out at sea, 

So shifted her eyes round anxiously; 

Then nearer, with crucifix I drew — 

Her searching gaze held me in view — 

And see! and see, how furtively 

Her head she bows, slightly nodding to me, 

A smile her lovely face upon. 

Like the fading light of the setting sun! 

The flaming brand the torchman swung. 
Her languorous eyes on mine were hung; 
The flames the branches dry wrapped round, 
Her staring eyes held me spell-bound: 
Like dust disturbed, the sparklets shivered, 
Like falling leaves, her two lips quivered; 
And shortly, asudden, I heard a ringing 
From burning brush— she had started sing- 
ing! 

Like Spring showers rustling in the night, 
So gripped me her song, with its sweet, 

blessed might; 
As if air exotic from alien blooms 
Had borrowed and brought their rich per* 

fumes : 
As though, said a voice in my ear, thou 

shalt never 
Enjoy the delights thou hast lost forever. 
The flames enveloped her naked feet, 
She gave a last greeting — a nod discrete: 
The black smoke rising around her swirled, 
Her pitiful song with the smoke was 

whirled : 

[139] 



(Deep roared the flames to heaven spring- 
ing, 
Like tremulous bells, she kept up her sing- 
ing) 
My ears with both my hands defending, 
That singing! that singing! When is it 

ending?' 
I turned with a shudder and fled from the 

spot — 
That heart-breaking voice would leave me 

not: 
Wherever I hastened, and whence sped 

away. 
That song, that song, was with me alway; 
And whether asleep or awake in prayer, 
All day, all night, and everywhere 
Since then — it is fifty years to-day — 
I hear it forever and ever stay!" 

(Medardus looked wild and arose from his 
cot.) 

"I hear her again: perceive ye it not? 

Up the walk, through the door, it draweth 
near! 

She treads on the threshold — is here! is 
here ! 

Thou woman pure — a witch so they claim, 

Thou lovely form that they branded with 
shame. 

Ye luscious lips, ye eyes languid, tender. 

Thou sweet, welling bloom of limbs sport- 
ive, slender. 

Thou rapturous bliss, once offered to me, 

[140] 



Which, disdaining, I thrust into Eternity, 
Thou offerest the blessing my crime cast 

aside. 
For me, heaven's door thou openest wide: 
After fifty years of penance and pain, 
I come and forever with thee shall remain!" 

He raised up his arms — ^his limbs rigid 

stay: 
"Medardus is dead," the brothers low say: 
They knelt in a circle: the gray dawn broke 
Through the windows — the prior spoke: 
'What human eyes cannot grasp nor see. 
To One above shall manifest be: 
It is he that hath said, 'Judgment is mine/ 
Go brothers, pray: to judge is not thine!" 



[141] 



L'ENVOI 

A FIRE smouldering in my heart, 
-^^ Has slowly burned for many years ; 
It has a message to impart 
Of life and death, of joy and tears: 
And in the midst of many fears 
Of critics with envenomed dart. 
Has never burst into a flame, 
But goes on smouldering just the same. 
Awaiting, possibly, some art 
To give its message to the world: 
Or does it wait to find a name 
Which, when emblazoned and unfurled 
Will be so plain that all must see 
And call the outburst Poesy! 



[142] 



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